Hoshi's target practice with Reed is interrupted when
Enterprise drops out of warp to investigate a Class-9 gas
giant. A probe is launched into the planet's massive
atmosphere and to the crew's surprise, it detects a disabled
alien vessel with several bio-signs aboard. T'Pol, Reed and
Hoshi are dispatched in a shuttlepod to investigate.

When they board the "shipwreck," Hoshi recognizes the
writing on the bulkhead — it's Klingon. They immediately
draw their weapons and search for the survivors. Entering
the dark, spooky bridge, they find several unconscious
Klingons. T'Pol recommends leaving before they come to,
because the Klingons would kill them rather than face the
dishonor of being rescued. But Reed refuses to leave without
helping. When they contact Enterprise, Archer decides to
give them 20 minutes to see what they can do, because in
about half an hour they'll sink to a point where the
atmospheric pressure will exceed the shuttlepod's tolerance.
Soon after, though, the boarding party is ambushed by a
Klingon woman who managed to escape unconsciousness. The
Klingon then bolts for the airlock hatch and escapes in the
shuttlepod, stranding the three crewmen on the doomed
vessel.

The bridge crew sees the shuttlepod approach, and upon
hailing it they hear a Klingon voice. The woman, Bu'kaH, is
calling her people for warships, declaring that Enterprise
has attacked them. Enterprise captures the shuttlepod with
the grappler and brings it aboard. Bu'kaH won't be taken
easily, though — she puts up a fierce struggle before being
knocked out by a phase-pistol. Meanwhile the stranded party
decides their only course of action is to restart the
Klingon ship's engines and pilot it out. However, using
Hoshi's linguistic skills to read the instruments, they
realize they're dead in the water. And Archer's plan to
bring Enterprise down for a rescue hits a snag when the
shipwreck falls to a depth even the starship can't
withstand.

In Sickbay, where Bu'kaH is now awake but restrained, Dr.
Phlox determines there's a neurotoxin in her bloodstream
that will kill her in a day or two. Apparently she escaped
unconsciousness because she hid in a cold place on her ship,
delaying the effects of the toxin. Archer asks Bu'kaH for
her guidance in getting her ship restarted, but the
belligerent Klingon accuses him of raiding her vessel and
poisoning her crew. Meanwhile Mayweather and Tucker search
the Vulcan database and learn the Klingon ship is a
Raptor-class scout vessel — it has a very thick hull, but it
won't hold up forever under the pressure it's in. Tucker has
the idea to reinforce a shuttlepod with duratanium braces in
order to mount a rescue. Archer puts him on the task while
telling Mayweather to keep an eye out for other Klingon
ships. On the Raptor, Hoshi finds a log entry from the
ship's captain, which reveals the Klingon crew was fighting
a race called the Xarantines and hid in the gas giant to
make repairs but the captain did not know why the crew was
falling ill. The team also learns the port fusion injector
is damaged, so they set out to find engineering. As Reed
works there, he becomes dehydrated. Hoshi and T'Pol look for
the galley to find water, but instead come across live targs
and other Klingon food including a delicacy of live worms
called gagh. As Hoshi's anxiety rises, T'Pol takes her hand
and guides her through a mental exercise that calms her
down. But then the ship shudders as the hull begins to
buckle.

Running out of time, Hoshi suggests trying the weapons, and
Reed concurs. Meanwhile Archer approaches Bu'kaH again, this
time using some Klingon reverse psychology. After informing
her that her crew was infected by a toxin in the Xarantine
ale they drank—part of the spoils of a raid—he convinces her
that she would be letting her crew die a very dishonorable
death if she didn't cooperate. She reluctantly lets him take
her on the reinforced shuttlepod toward her ship, along with
an antidote to the neurotoxin. On the Raptor, Reed is
launching the ship's torpedoes one or two at a time in an
attempt to stop its descent, but not having much success
until Hoshi bravely proposes they fire all remaining six
torpedoes at once. The risky tactic works—the ship takes
damage, but the shockwave pushes it to a tolerable altitude.
Archer and Bu'kaH board the Raptor and he coerces her to
work with his crewman until the engines are fixed. The job
is done just in time for Archer's team to return to
Enterprise before two more Klingon ships arrive. They get a
hail from the recuperated Klingon captain, but instead of
saying thank you, he orders them to surrender. Archer faces
him down, pointing out his ship is weakened and he's fresh
out of torpedoes, and he better take what honor he has left
and go home. The Klingon obstinately relents. T'Pol, Hoshi
and Reed now get to relax in the decon chamber, happy to be
away from the smell of a Klingon vessel.